Having worked in medicine for my entire career I got accustomed to the euphemisms that doctors often employed. One of my favorites was the cardiologists who were sometimes referred to as plumbers in that from other physicians’ perspectives all they…
Old and New Reef Tank Pests
It seems that when we take two steps forward we often have to take one step back. Such is the case with the success we have had in the hobby. In the early days of the hobby, we were preoccupied…
How to Aquascape with Reef Cement
Every day is reef tank day for me, but on Sundays, I take the day off from writing and have the opportunity to execute some of my bigger plans. The 200-liter shallow soft coral lagoon is doing great. So great…
Mechanical and Chemical Filtration
Back when I started keeping fish, filtration consisted of angel hair or glass wool as the mechanical filtration and charcoal as the chemical filtration. Now there are a multitude of ways to perform these types of filtration, but rarely are…
Chrysiptera starcki, the Poor Man’s Resplendent Angelfish
We’ve always had a soft spot for damselfish since they were our first saltwater fish over 25 years ago. We still like their bold colors, cichlid-like looks, and behavior, and still add them to our reef tanks even now. Sure,…
How to deal with Valonia Bubble Algae
Bubble algae is one of the most persistent pests of mature reef aquaria, overgrowing corals, weir combs, and wave pumps if left unchecked. Newbies often report surprise when they first find the small, bottle green, glassy balls as it’s something…
Paletta on Protein Skimming
Through the years I have seen marine aquarium filtration go from under gravel filters through canister filters and then trickle filters, all producing various levels of success. But the only filtration method that truly changed filtration was when the hobby…
DeJong Marinelife Successfully Breed the Circled Dragonet
Dutch wholesaler DeJong Marinelife has successfully bred the Circled Dragonet, Synchiropus circularis. Combine a male and female dragonet, feed them plenty of the right food and even captive spawning often comes naturally, but what makes this such a big deal…
Understanding lighting
While planning and choosing the right tank and selecting a stand are all important aspects of setting up a tank, they are not sexy and probably seemed kind of obvious. Understanding lighting and choosing proper lighting, however, is where things…
Show Us Your Reef Tees!
Remember Jake Adams and you’ll remember him not just for his world-class reef information, but his apparel too. Despite coming to us from the frosty climbs of Colorado, Jake was so often seen in shorts and sandals, a baseball cap,…
